Properly Dispose Of Your De-trimmed Tree

Pick Up Whole Truckload Of Mulch

Don't put that Christmas tree out by the curbside on just any old day of the week. And don't leave it dressed up with decorations that you want to dispose of along with your discarded tree.

Margaret Hodges, recycling coordinator for Volusia County, said residents should join the ''Merry Mulch'' program by putting their unadorned trees out at the roadside on normal yard waste-collection days.

Yard waste pickup days vary in Volusia County, she said, but residents should know which days are reserved for their pickup.

Trees often are put out early in January, but it helps the recyclers if residents wait until after Jan. 5 to put them out and to do so on the days when yard waste normally is picked up, Hodges said.

Some other words of caution from recycling experts: Don't put a tree out with tinsel, garland, lights or ornaments still attached. And don't forget to remove it from its stand.

''Remove the ornaments and tinsel before trees are picked up and taken to the transfer station where they will be turned into mulch,'' Hodges said.

Residents can take advantage of the free mulch by hauling away as much as two cubic yards. That amount would fill the bed of a small pickup truck, she said.

The mulch is provided on a first-come, first-served basis at the West Volusia Transfer Station on East New York Avenue in DeLand or the Tomoka Landfill on Tomoka Farms Road in Daytona Beach.

And one last thing - don't forget whether your tree is real or artificial.

Recyclers stress the need to keep artificial trees away from the yard waste.

Artificial trees mingled with wood trees can contaminate a load of wood trees and ruin machines that mulch the natural trees, Hodges said.